TO THE
BRETHREN OF ST. JAMES’S LODGE,
TARBOLTON.
Tune—“Good-night, and joy be wi’ you a’.”
[Burns, it is said, sung this song in the St. James’s Lodge of Tarbolton, when his chest was on the way to Greenock: men are yet living who had the honour of hearing him—the concluding verse affected the whole lodge.]
I.
Adieu! a heart-warm, fond adieu!
Dear brothers of the mystic tie!
Ye favour’d, ye enlighten’d few,
Companions of my social joy!
Tho’ I to foreign lands must hie,
Pursuing Fortune’s slidd’ry ba’,
With melting heart, and brimful eye,
I’ll mind you still, tho’ far awa’.
II.
Oft have I met your social band,
And spent the cheerful, festive night;
Oft honour’d with supreme command,
Presided o’er the sons of light:
And by that hieroglyphic bright,
Which none but craftsmen ever saw!
Strong mem’ry on my heart shall write
Those happy scenes when far awa’.
III.
May freedom, harmony, and love
Unite you in the grand design,
Beneath th’ Omniscient Eye above,
The glorious architect divine!
That you may keep th’ unerring line,
Still rising by the plummet’s law,
Till order bright completely shine,
Shall be my pray’r when far awa’.
IV.
And you farewell! whose merits claim,
Justly, that highest badge to wear!
Heav’n bless your honour’d, noble name,
To masonry and Scotia dear!
A last request permit me here,
When yearly ye assemble a’,
One round—I ask it with a tear,—
To him, the Bard that’s far awa’.